Third Chance
by PhoenixCycle
Summary: If Bree Tanner had been spared at the end of Eclipse, how would she have fared? When given her third chance at life, will she be able to handle it? Join me on the not so short second life of Bree Tanner.
1. I'm Not a Cat, But I've Had Three Lives

**Twilight is not my property. That's Stephanie Meyer's property. Reviews are appreciated, but not demanded.**

**I was inspired to write this by Oy!Angelina's _The (Not-So) Short Second Life of Bree Tanner. _While I may not be as much of a wonderful writer as she is, I dearly hope that you will enjoy it.**

**Chapter 1**

I had really thought that I could escape my horrible life by death. Maybe I sound suicidal, but it was true. I had thought that at least I could die and not live with this horrible life craving blood. I had wanted freedom from my father. I had run away because I thought that my life couldn't have gotten any worse. I had been wrong.

This was so much worse.

"Felix?" Jane said, sounding apathetic.

"Wait." The mind-reader said. "We could explain the rules to the young one. She doesn't seem to be unwilling to learn. She didn't know what she was doing." I didn't know whether to thank him or to scream at him to let me die.

"Of course we'd be willing to take responsibility for Bree," the blond haired one. He looked at the other members of his coven to gauge their approval of the idea.

His wife nodded vigorously, encouraging him, causing a well of emotion to overflow within me. The one who had taken down most of my coven, the empath, stared. With his eyes, he urged him to let me die. I didn't blame him. After all, I could greatly endanger his family. The blond, beautiful woman scowled, and the big, buff one grinned, crossing his arms, and shrugged, showing nonchalant acceptance. The pixie girl, who really wasn't that much taller than me, nodded as well, smiling slightly. He seemed to take that as approval, and he turned back to Jane.

"We'll take her in." He said firmly.

"Interesting," Jane said. "Very well. I doubt it would be worth it, but it is your decision. We can afford to leave a straggler newborn that will have killed herself within a year or so." Her head inclined a bit, and she smiled slightly.

I cringed, waiting for the pain.

"Come over here, Bree," He said coaxingly, trying to placate me from speeding over to his human and biting into her throat. At that moment though, I wasn't actually thinking of her blood. It felt wonderful to have a family, and there was nothing that would make me lose the thrill.

"It looks like you will have bitten off more than you can chew with two newborns," Jane said. "That is, of course, if you intend to change Bella. Caius doesn't like to be disappointed."

"The date is set. We won't disappoint the Volturi." The pixie girl said coldly.

"It seems our work here is done," Jane said, "I look forward to seeing you immortal, Bella. It would be quite...interesting." She turned away and ran away, along with the others.

"Thank you so much," I said, and if I could cry, I would. "I'll just go now. I understand if you want me not to bother you guys."

"Nonsense," My rescuer's wife said.

"You'll love being a Cullen," The pixie girl said. "I'm Alice. That's Carlisle, Esme, Emmett, Rosalie, Jasper and Edward. The human is Bella." She pointed at each of them in turn, speaking quite fast, without taking a breath. Though I suppose she doesn't need to breathe, does she?

"Bella should leave," Edward said hastily. "She's had a long day."

"I need to see Jacob." The human gripped at Edward's shirt. "Is he alright?"

In answer, Edward wordlessly slung her over his shoulder as if she were a backpack and sped off. Something told me that he had intended to get her away from me as much as getting her to this Jacob guy.

"Um, okay," I said. "But I was really wondering, how come your eyes are that color?"

"They're this color because we drink the blood of animals instead of humans," Carlisle said.

"You're joking," I said, gaping. Of course, from experience, I had realized I hadn't exactly known much about the world of vampires, but this? This seemed almost impossible.

"No, we're not. It's somewhat unpleasant, but it does rid us of the guilt. We don't prefer to kill humans if we don't have to."

"How can you control the thirst?" I said, my throat still raw from Bella's presence.

"Self-control is tough to learn, but it will come to you," He reassured me. "For the time being, we'll protect you, but you will eventually learn it yourself. Otherwise, we will release you. Do you understand?"

I nodded. "I won't let you down," I promised. I wouldn't disappoint my new family.

**Hopefully, the next chapters will be longer. Tell me what you think of this!**

**-PhoenixCycle**


	2. I Leave My Excellent Family

Chapter 2

**Twilight is not my property. That's Stephanie Meyer's property. Reviews are appreciated, but not demanded, as before. **

**I also won't lie, I got the idea for Bree's ability from Oy!Angelina's ****_The Not So Short Second Life of Bree Tanner, _****with some modifications.**

It turns out that converting to animal blood was a lot harder than it sounded. And that was saying something, because it had not sounded easy.

"Were all of you guys this bad when you first started?" I asked, discarding my sixth mountain lion.

"I was worse," Emmett reassured me. "It's not an easy task even for us, and I've had fifty years of experience."

"What about the others?" I asked, wiping the blood off my hands and onto my shirt.

"Jasper is probably the only one worse than me, and that's because he was more used to human blood. I'm the youngest, and the others have a lot more practice and restraint. The others are at least fifty years old, though I suppose you could have figured that out easily enough."

"It's nice to know that you don't underestimate my logic," I said sarcastically.

"You're welcome, newborn." He said. "Do you want to go back now? You look thoroughly satisfied."

"That would be affirmative," I said, "I think I'll be able to contain myself." I had spent two months like this, hunting every other day with at either Jasper or Emmett, who usually had a couple carnivorous and were done. I had been able to control myself rather well around Bella, but Edward was careful not to let me near his girlfriend without him around.

"I eat a lot, don't I?" I said gloomily, beginning to run. "I'm guessing I won't be able to go to the wedding."

"Don't be bothered by that fact," Emmett said, struggling to keep up with my newborn speed. "All it'll be is Edward and Bella being all lovey-dovey and saying vows and whatnot. You're not missing out on anything."

"Still," I moaned. "I'd like to at least show everyone that I'm a Cullen now."

"As if Carlisle hasn't already announced that to the entire vampire world," Emmett muttered to himself, even if he knew that I could hear him. Perhaps to keep it quiet if we came along a group of humans, so we wouldn't have to kill them. That would be counterproductive. "Have you got any idea of what you're going to do while you're gone?"

I hadn't actually thought of that. I had really thought I might just stay in the house and sulk. But I hadn't really though about the fact that humans would be a n infestation in the area.

"I might look for my parents," I said. "I'll just...you know, tell my mom I'm okay." And take revenge on my father, I silently added. Now that I was a vampire and my emotions only amplified, I hated him more than ever.

But then the guilt set in. I knew Carlisle would be disappointed in me and what I had been thinking. No, I would just find my mother, then leave. I needed to find closure. Grieve for Diego and find Fred, like I said we would, in Vancouver. But he said he would leave after twenty-four hours. How would I find him?

I'd figure it out. I just needed to get out of here, for my family's own good.

* * *

As we approached the house, the others came and gathered in the living room, which was as big as my old house. At least, what I remembered of it.

"Okay, so the reason why we're here is-" Esme started to say, but I cut her off, responding to a slight inkling in my brain.

"To decide what to do with me because you don't want to risk me going to the wedding, because I don't have enough self-control." I interrupted. I didn't know how I knew, but I was sure that was her intention.

"I'm not going to be here for the wedding." I interrupted. I wanted to be there, no doubt, but I couldn't. I would probably massacre half the people on the bride's side, and then have to finish off everyone I hadn't eaten for showing I was a vampire. This was for the best.

"Well, I was going to ask what you were going to do since you couldn't be at the actual reception, but it seems like you're going to leave and become a nomad for a little while." She looked kind of disappointed, but she did not voice the opinion.

"I'm going to tie up some loose ends," I said. "Find one of my friends from my old coven." I didn't add that I was going to find the place where Diego had died. But then I remembered that Edward was listening to my thoughts, no matter how involuntarily. I looked over at him, silently begging him not to mention that. He looked at me curiously, but didn't say anything, and I thanked him telepathically.

In typical Bree fashion, I noticed that this was the first time I had seen him without Bella. Where was she, anyway? She was probably at her home, or with Jacob.

"Are you sure? You might get hurt, and we don't want that to happen." Esme said in concern.

"I'll be fine. Jasper and Emmett can attest to the fact that my self-control has increased a lot." I reassured her. She looked at the two males, who nodded, though Jasper did it rather reluctantly. He had still been rather cold to me, and frankly, I had done the same to him before. I had attacked his family and he had told Carlisle to let me die. That's enough to cause a grudge- just a little one.

"Okay, then. Well, we also had some of our first guests over," she said, "The Denalis are the front door."

"Oh, they came already?" Rosalie said, resignedly.

"Looks like Bella will have some competition," Emmett smiled at Edward, like an older brother ribbing a younger brother.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Tanya has a little crush on little Eddie-kins," Emmett teased.

"Well, hopefully, a week from now, I won't be available," Edward said.

"Yes, hopefully," I muttered, though everyone could hear me anyone, "as if you're not obsessed with each other already."

"Isn't that the truth," Emmett said.

"Why don't you pack for a bit, Bree?" Esme asked, sounding strangely nostalgic, like a mother sending off her youngest child to college, even though we had only been family for two months.

I sped around the house, snatching supplies from random places. Contacts to hide my red-orange eyes? Check. Sunglasses for emergencies? Check. Cell phone? Check. Books? Check: _The Return of the_ _King, Warm Bodies _(ah, the irony), and _The Illiad. _They were all reasonably long, and I could tolerate rereading them.

I slung the backpack of supplies that I had packed in about two seconds over my shoulder. I was ready to leave. I ran over to my family, who had all gathered in the foyer to welcome their new guests.

I met the Denalis for the first time at the front door, on my way out and on their way in.

The first of the five that I noticed were the three women. They all were blond and incredibly beautiful, even for vampires. I felt incredibly inadequate next to them with my immature body with barely any curves that time would never give me.

The man was of medium height, with Spanish features and the characteristic eyes of vegetarian vampires. His mate beside him had a slight olive tinge to her skin which was overtaken by the chalky paleness of our kind that, somehow, did not make her look dead.

None of them looked like the pale, bloodless zombies horror films make our kind out to be. They were beautiful creatures, works of art. Was this what people saw when they saw me? I doubted it.

"Hello, Eleazar," Carlisle greeted, shaking the other's hand as we greeted them at the door. "Meet the new member of our family," He wrapped an arm around me and nudged me forward.

"Hello," I said. "I'm Bree." I waved shyly.

"You have good luck, Carlisle," Eleazar said. "If Romanians had your good fortune, they would have taken down the Volturi before they had gotten the Witch Twins with them."

"Sorry?" Carlisle blinked.

"Your luck with acquiring those in your coven with extra abilities," He said. Where did that come from?

"He has the ability to detect other vampires' abilities," Edward explained in my ear.

"Thanks," I whispered back.

"Did you mean Bella?" Alice asked.

"Yes, I suppose she would have an extra ability, judging from the stories I've heard about her. I would have to meet her first. But I was referring to Bree here."

I blinked. "Sorry?" I must have heard him wrong.

"Oh, yes. You have an ability. It's subtle, but it exists."

"What is it?" I sounded breathless, even though I didn't need to breathe.

"From what I can tell, you are an empath." He said, face wondering. "You notice other people's intentions."

Not flashy, but it could be convenient. From my experience, the most impressive powers weren't always the most effective.

"I wonder how you came to have this power," Carlisle mused, the scientist in him rearing it's not-so ugly head. I already knew the answer to that question. I had always been aware of what other people wanted to do, watching their bodies like a poker player. I had used it to survive with my dad, and out on the streets. It was the only way for me to live.

But I didn't say this out loud. I didn't need the others to know my life story. Maybe I knew some of theirs, Emmett, Jasper, and Carlisle's, but they had been shared rather reluctantly and I was even more wary than they about sharing my history. My paranoia from my years with my father, my weeks on the street, and my months with Riley had lingered still.

"It's not important." I said. I took an exaggerated whiff of air that I didn't need to smell the humans that were approaching in their cars down the long driveway. "I have to go."

"Goodbye," Esme hugged me tightly, and I stiffened, unused to this kind of affection. But I loosened up after a moment and hugged back, awkwardly patting her on the back.

"I'll miss you guys," I said. I wasn't lying. This had been more of a family in the last two months than I had experienced during the rest of my life, living or undead.

"I'll be watching you. I'll warn you if you make any bad decisions," Alice said. "Stay safe."

"I will." I promised. I was going to find my original family, the one that had abandoned me, to find closure. Then I would leave everything else from my old life behind.

With that happy thought on my mind, I sped off into the vague unknown.

**Okay guys, this is twice as long as the first chapter, so I feel quite accomplished right now, though it's only about 1900 words. I hoped you will enjoy it, despite the lack of length. Stay tuned, because I'll be trying to update at least once every two weeks. Hopefully that schedule will work out. As every author on this website says, in various creative ways, please review, even if it is criticism. I enjoy your feedback.**

**-PhoenixCycle**


	3. My Daddy Issues are Resolved (Somewhat)

Chapter 3

**Twilight is not my property. That's Stephanie Meyer's property. Reviews are appreciated, but not demanded, as before. **

I had run into Seattle with almost no plans in mind except to find some place that did not have a plethora of humans.

My first plan to find my mother was to go to a library, but I thought better of it. If I heard something that I didn't like, I would end up losing control, no doubt about it.

How would I find a way to search up the information? With my infinite foresight, I had completely forgotten to look my mother up on the computer at the Cullens' house.

Wait. I had a cell phone with me, in my backpack. It could reach the internet almost everywhere. I pulled it out of the backpack and leaned against the wall of the building.

There was only one human scent around it, so I was safe. I could control myself. Something about it was familiar, a blurry memory from when I had been human. Perhaps I had been to this section of town in own of my stints as a runaway.

I didn't know. It just had a bad vibe attached to it. But I didn't care. Perhaps it was hubris, but I felt invincible now. What could escape me?

I pulled out the phone and turned it on. I couldn't read anything on it, not even the time on the screen. I could see every pixel, every blinking light that made up the screen. My incredible sense of sight was overcompensating. My mind whirred for an answer.

Aha! I would have to impede my sight. Pulling a box of contacts out of the backpack, I slipped a pair in. Now it was better. The two concave pieces of plastic were irritating enough that I could read normally. See, that was why I liked the printed books better. I could see some of the vague inconsistencies in the ink, but it was much more readable, I had discovered through experimentation at the Cullens'. Riley and Victoria's army hadn't exactly provided reading material.

I typed in my mother's name, and waited for it to load. It took three seconds for it to come up with a list of links, enough time for me to run up and down the street. Now that I was a vampire, everything around me seemed so much slower.

I clicked on the police record listed at the top of the screen. It listed both of my parents from around the time my mom left, and my name was also mentioned. It seemed promising.

It was an obituary.

The top read 'Jennifer Smith Tanner' and listed a couple nameless things from her close friends. I skimmed over everything else, emotion welling up in my body. For once, I was dreading reading something. I knew the news wouldn't be good. But even as I had read it, I could not believe the words written on the screen.

My father had murdered my mother.

Anger coursed through me. My vision tunneled and pulsated with red light. I dropped the phone, cracking the screen. I didn't care. It would work, anyway.

I flung a stone off the ground at the opposite wall of an empty warehouse, where it shattered. The wall now had a hole three inches in diameter right in the very center.

Another two milliseconds later, I spun around with all of my might, which is a lot, punched the wall. My fist went through the entire brick structure, coming out on the other side with ease.

"Hey!" A voice shouted at my back, a human voice. This was my first real test. I spun around, and my eyes were probably pitch-black with blood-lust. My throat burned, like the Sahara in the summertime. "Get off of my property! You're going to have to pay for that, you know."

I spun around, too fast for his weak human eyes to comprehend. I snarled like a feral animal, and I heard his heart rate spike. Even in the gloom of the weak streetlamps, I could see his face as if we were in broad daylight.

It was my father.

That was why this house had been familiar. I had recognized it through my strangled human memories as a place of torture, where my life had been miserable. By some sort of muscle memory preserved even through my change into an immortal, I had gone back to the only place in Seattle I knew as home, though it was a terrible one.

I had killed two birds with one stone; I had found both my father and my mother in one shot. If only this were under a lot happier circumstances. Though if it were, I never would have become a vampire in the first place. I would be happier, human, and mortal.

I snarled more fiercely at the man who had ruined my life, growling, like a cornered dog that was fighting its way out of a cage. If I had been anything else, I would have gasped 'Dad?' and be struck with terror. Now I had the strength to kill him. More than enough of it.

"Bree?" _He _was the one who was gasping in surprise now.

"Dad." The word ripped from my throat like poison. I was surprised that I was able to speak, the burning in my throat was so bad. To restrain myself, I reached out and gripped the brick wall with both hands, my fingers boring holes into the wall like a drill.

His eyes bugged out at my display of strength. "How...?" He whispered. "My daughter..."

"I was never your daughter," I growled out the words. "You killed Mom, didn't you?"

He gulped. He tried to make it less noticeable, but I could see his Adam's apple bobbing. "How did you find out?" He said hoarsely. "You were only four..."

"I don't know, _Dad,_" I spit the word out venomously, and he flinched, fear palpable in his eyes. "There's this thing called the internet now, where you can look up police records. Surely I never could have used that."

"I was drunk; I had no idea what I was doing!" He said, and there was a slight tingle in my mind that stood out like a signal flare on a foggy day. He was going to reach for the gun in his coat pocket and shoot me, in the head by the way he was looking at me.

Not that it would hurt me, in hindsight. The bullets would just bounce off my skin. He didn't know that. He wasn't close enough to see the change in me. To see how my eyes were a red-orange color, instead of brown. To see how I no longer cowered in front of him as he rained blows against my body. I was stronger now.

There was no threat to my existence. But I was still a creature of instinct, ruled by my emotions in that moment. My newborn tendency to overreact only amplified the natural hate I held for the despicable human before me.

I lunged, trapping him with a hand gripping each of his arms. The words that Carlisle spoke to me about mercy and compassion left my mind completely. All I wanted to do was dismember him, piece by piece.

I would not drink his blood, I decided, though my throat protested otherwise. I'd had enough of it flowing through my veins in my lifetime.

He screamed loudly, calling for anyone to help him. I did not notice him begging for mercy or the screams of pain. I gripped harder, breaking his arms with a _crack_. He screamed again, and I wanted to yell at him that this was only a fraction of the pain he had given me over the years, that I could give him so much more.

"You wouldn't kill your own father, would you?" He gasped, tears of pain welling up in his eyes. At this, I dropped him as if he had placed a lighter against my diamond-hard skin, as if he held a lethal weapon in his hand.

He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a gun so fast that I could have mistaken him for a vampire. Maybe that was what my threat to his life did to him. It gave him the speed to act, to fight back against me like I never did to him. I just ran and hid. But maybe he sensed he couldn't do the same to me. Maybe he knew that I would find him anyway.

He fired, a sound like a cannon filling my oversensitive ears. I was in the same situation as with the phone. My wonderful senses had once again overcompensated. I would have to condition myself to this, I thought idly.

The bullet hit the space between my eyes, my _glabella_, according to one of Carlisle's medical textbooks I'd read through for pleasure. It bounced off, making a clanging sound like a harsh bell. A cow bell, maybe. I was sent back by the force by about three feet, but I was otherwise unharmed. I decided to give him a few moments to let him wallow in fear. This would torture him more than me killing him.

My father stared at me through the mist of the smoking gun in astonishment. "What are you?" He whispered, and I noticed blood dripping from his mouth. My throat now felt like the surface of the sun.

"A lot stronger than you," I said hoarsely, my voice scratchy. No, I would not drink his blood, I would not, should not. I had promised myself this. He fired again, at my chest this time. I got sent back another three feet, and the bullet bounced off.

Again, and again, he fired, growing more bewildered and terrified, while I grew angrier at him. Bullets kept bouncing off my body, and while they didn't hurt, this was growing boring. I sped forward, knocking the gun out of his hand.

"Say bye, Dad," I said. "I'm pretty sure no one will miss you. Mom won't."

I snapped his neck with a satisfying _crack_. At least, it felt satisfying. Then the guilt set in almost as fast. Carlisle's words came back to me. I remembered him saying that if I killed anybody, I would have to leave.

I ran away, wind rushing past my face and shoes slapping so fast against the ground that no human would be able to see me. I ran out of the city limits, racing to find another area with wildlife.

I found one, and drained about five deer before calming down.

I had killed my own father. After years of fearing him, and then finding out that he had killed my mother, I had destroyed what I believed to be one of the worst things that had ever happened to me. But was this really what I wanted? I had now cut off my connections to the Cullens. This had been the worst decision I had ever made, by far.

A ringing came from my backpack, and I frowned. What could that be? I opened it and fished the source of the ringing out. It was a cell phone, and old-fashioned flip phone. I frowned again. I didn't remember packing this. And with a vampire memory, I never forgot _anything._

I checked caller ID. It was Alice. No wonder. Of course she would slip a second phone into my backpack when I wasn't looking.

I opened it, pressed it against my ear, and said, "Hello? Who is it?"

"Oh, you know it's me," Alice said irritably. "Why on earth did you do that?"

"What?" I trilled, hoping to play innocent. Though she was clairvoyant...she probably knew what had happened.

"Oh, don't play innocent," she said. "You know I hate it when you make split-second decisions. I can't warn you. Why did you kill that man?"

"He's my father," I said, protesting.

"Why would you kill your own father?" Carlisle asked. Of course he could hear this conversation.

"He abused me when I was little. And he killed my mom." I said shortly. There was silence on the other end.

"Oh."

"Yeah. Anyway, I'm really sorry, please forgive me, I'll do anything. I understand if you'll kick me out and I'll leave the area so I won't break the treaty and-" I would have babbled on, but Alice cut me off.

"Bree, we're not mad at you."

"And-what?" I stopped in the middle of my rant of apologies.

"Contrary to popular belief, we're not perfect. We've all had trouble with this diet. Carlisle's the only one with a perfect record."

"But still," I said, anguished, "I _promised _you guys I wouldn't kill anybody."

"It's okay. We're not going to kick you out," Alice said soothingly. She was about to say something, but then she stopped. "Bree," she said. "Don't fight back."

"What?" But she had hung up.

A new smell invaded my nostrils, a masculine presence. It had a sort of fresh air, like a botanical garden. It was intoxicating. Yet still, I was on guard. Smelling good did not mean this vampire was friendly.

"Hello," A male voice said behind me. It was a pleasant tenor, one of a teenager not yet meeting manhood, but not a boy. Sounding good does not mean friendliness, either, I reminded myself.

I turned around to face my potential opponent.

It was, as expected, a male vampire. He wasn't tall, only about two inches taller than me, and was definitely a teenager, about my age. He wore a dark cloak, almost black, but not quite, and a silver and garnet 'V' pendant hung around his neck.

"Who are you?" I snarled, my docility not lasting more than fifteen seconds.

"I am Alec Volturi," He said. At the name, I immediately dropped into a defensive crouch, growling. The Volturi's name reminded me of excruciating pain, of a girl who smiled cruelly as she tortured people for the fun of it. A girl that looked a lot like this boy.

"You're Jane's brother, aren't you?" I asked, scowling. "You look like her."

"I don't know whether I should be insulted, or she should be. Are you saying that I look like a girl, or that she looks like a boy?" He asked, amused, and not at all threatened by me.

"If you're going to kill me, do it now," I said, standing up slowly, still scowling. "I'd rather not have a long, drawn-out death like your sister would give me."

"Oh, I'm not going to kill you," he replied, indifferent to my threatening glare. I was beginning to become annoyed with that.

"Then what's the point to this?!" I roared.

"Oh, I'd just like to have a little conversation. But I'll guess we'll have to take you somewhere else, don't we?"

"What?" I said, for the second time in the last five minutes. Now my own voice and wit had betrayed me.

"Don't worry," He smirked. "This won't hurt a bit." Black mist shrouded me, depriving me of my senses.

It was plunging me into oblivion.

**I know. Two chapters in two days? Unheard of! But here we are. Every chapter I write gets longer and longer, so to Guest, who asked for longer chapters, here you go.**

**Enter Alec! Hurrah! This should be interesting. Anyway, if anyone wants to dispute my theory that at first, vampires as newborns have their senses over-stimulated, feel free to say so in a review! If not, still review! I love to hear your feedback, it feels great!**

**Thanks to FallenAshe, UndressTheseBeautifulLies, and SupernaturalGirl51799 for reviewing! You made my day.**

**-PhoenixCycle**


	4. Debate Team, Here I Come

Chapter 4

**Twilight is not my property. That's Stephanie Meyer's property. Reviews are appreciated, but not demanded, as before. **

**Anyway, enjoy!**

I spent fifty-five thousand, and six hundred fifty-seven seconds in the shroud of obliviousness.

Or nine hundred, twenty-seven minutes and thirty-seven seconds.

Or fifteen hours, twenty-seven minutes and thirty-seven seconds. I did the math before another second had even passed.

I was finding that having an ultra-sensitive, ultra-speedy body was losing its appeal. Everything was going too slowly for me to handle. I was frustrated and incredibly _bored_. Was this how Alec killed his victims? He had them bored them to death? If it were true, then I didn't know which twin I wanted to kill me more.

I felt awful, though. I had killed my own father. Who did that? Why had I done it?

It certainly was not out of thirst. I hadn't even drunk his blood after I had killed him.

Perhaps I had just been angry, and he had been the perfect target to lose my temper around.

Maybe it was a want to feel power. Yes, that was it. I had been suspicious all the time, borderline paranoid, and he had been the cause. He had made me feel weak, and killing him had made me feel strong.

Well, that had backfired on me. Nothing makes you feel weaker than getting your senses stripped from you for an extended time period.

In the first fifteen minutes, I had begun scratching, flailing, punching wildly in pure newborn fashion, but realized that I could just as well be hurting myself as much as my assailant.

That would be somewhat counterproductive.

If he were to take me to an area inhabited by humans, I would reveal the existence of vampires, and then Alec would be required by law to kill me and all the humans in the vicinity. Not a good idea.

And, as far as I knew, the extent of my power was that I needed to make eye contact in order to use it. Seeing as I couldn't, well, _see_, it had been rendered useless.

The only good solution I could think of was to wait this out.

* * *

I woke up to the startling sight of Alec's face hovering above my own.

No matter how beautiful a vampire's face could be, and he was, this was not a welcome sight. With a guttural yell, I flung him off of me fifteen feet into the air.

"What the-" I let loose a string of expletives, even as he landed. Reverting to instinct, I charged at him. At the last moment, I realized what he planned to do, but my momentum dragged me into oblivion again. Even as a vampire, I had to obey the laws of physics, however reluctantly.

My senses returned in a fraction of a second, and I was as hostile as ever.

"Tut, tut," Alec said as I recoiled from the shock. "You should have learned."

""I slept through the lecture on the Volturi's psyche," I said sarcastically, gasping as I struggled to restrain myself against my instincts. That wasn't strictly true. I had a vague knowledge of most of them and their abilities, as Carlisle had given me a crash course in the vampire world. But I didn't think I should inflate his ego more than it already was.

He chuckled. "I'll be sure to tell Aro that we need to spread our infamy further."

"If you follow that goal among humans you'll have to off yourself." I replied. This was getting strange.

If he wanted to kill me for that display with my father, then he should have done that a long time ago. It would have saved him a lot of time. Maybe he was a psychopath that wanted to torture me before burning me. Oh, who was I kidding, of course he was a psychopath. He was _Jane's _brother.

"What an incredible loss for the vampire world," He said dryly. His intentions were so jumbled I could barely decipher those within the next seconds. It was _so _frustrating. I had just discovered this gift, and it was already failing me.

"A blessing disguised as a curse," I said in a droll tone.

"So you think it would seem to be a curse, then?" He smirked. I struggled to come up with a response, but could not.

"Okay, just stop it with the games." I said in exasperation. "Kill me quickly, okay?"

"Where's the fun in that?" He asked, pouting, as if he were really the fourteen-year-old boy his physical form looked like. "But I'm still brooding on whether I should."

Of course, in that moment, like something out of a horror movie, my cell phone rang. Off-handedly, I wondered at how cell phones _had _to go off at the worst moments. I reached for it then stopped, raising my eyebrow at Alec.

"Go on," he said. "I may be over a millennium old, but I do know basic cell phone etiquette for the 21st century."

I looked at him suspiciously and picked it up. "Alice?" I could hear the minute crackling of the phone as the connection broke and was reconstructed in an endless cycle.

"That would be me." Alice said, and I had a feeling she knew exactly who I was with, but chose not to comment. "Listen, you're going to have to wait a little longer to come back."

"What? Why?" I said. "The humans can't still be there can they? It's been two weeks!" At least, that was according to my memory. I hadn't been able to find Fred here, so I'd doubled back and came to Seattle. That obviously hadn't worked out. Had I really spent two weeks trying to find him? Now I had a tougher problem on my hands.

"Another problem came up." She said, and nervousness was heard in her tone.

"What?" I demanded.

"Well..." she stalled.

"Tell me!" I said, my temper flaring. What was going on?

"Bella's pregnant," Carlisle said, as if the conversation were happening in our living room. Alec's eyes widened in shock, and I was sure that my expression matched his.

That should be physically impossible.

"Are you absolutely sure? How could Edward impregnate her within two weeks?" I said. I hadn't realized I had been running so long, why I had put off my original task so quickly. Maybe it was just that I had felt that I had all the time in the world. I did, after all.

"Either they were extremely lucky or extremely busy," Emmett said, and I could practically hear his eyebrows wiggling. I avoided Alec's gaze as he looked frightfully embarrassed. If I could blush, I would have- as in bright, tomato red.

"Please don't do that," I begged. "I'm in the presence of a fourteen-year-old." I added, poking at my not-so-voluntary companion's age.

"Does the fact that you're a fifteen-year-old yourself add to your embarrassment?" He replied, choosing not to notice my mention of another person with me.

"Of course not," I said in faux nonchalance. "I, unlike some people, can be mature."

"I am perfectly mature," He protested.

"Emmett, stop sticking your tongue out," Bella's voice, so out-of-place in this cacophony of bells, sounded rougher than usual. Perhaps the pregnancy was taking a toll on her. She was not the first for that to happen.

"Yes, you're only proving her point," Edward said, in a jesting manner, though his voice was saturated with self-loathing.

"Well," I said, glancing to the side at the Volturi member in my peripheral vision. "Best wishes, Bella. Are you sure you want to stay in this family?"

"More than ever," she said. "When this baby joins us it'll be even better." Love for her unborn child rang through her tone, gushing, flooding her every syllable. How much love surrounded her everywhere? Did she even realize how lucky she was?

"Okay, Bella, that's enough," Edward cut in. "You need to rest."

"Oh, so now I can't even _talk_?" She argued. "I can do this, I-" The rest of her argument was cut off as the phone was rushed off somewhere else in the house. Carlisle's voice came on the other end, talking so fast and so softly that it actually had the volume akin to a whisper, back when I was human.

"Listen, Bree," He said, "The fetus is killing her. It's too strong for her body, and it's growing too fast. It's only been three days and it's already as if it's been a month."

"You're kidding me." I didn't need to be a doctor to realize that this was bad. "What are you going to do about it?"

"Edward wants to get rid of it, but Bella wants to keep it. Right now, the rest of us aren't taking sides, at least, not out loud. Not that it matters, with Edward around."

"Why are you telling this to me?" I asked, "Other to inform me that I should stay away longer. You don't need to explain everything else."

"I wanted to ask your opinion," He answered. I was speechless for a moment. In both of my lives, I had barely ever been asked for my opinion.

"Are you sure?" I asked. "It's not as if I'll ever be in this situation." My stomach clenched as I thought of Diego. Maybe, if we were still human, in a decade, perhaps less, I could be in the same situation. But Riley and Victoria had to ruin every chance I had.

"Of course. I value your thoughts, Bree. You have a different perspective then the rest of us." He assured me.

"I don't know. I guess that would be possible. Maybe you could have a premature birth? Where the baby is at full strength?"

"I actually haven't thought about that," Carlisle mused. "That would be an interesting notion." His voice lilted off a bit, and there was a scratching of a pen on paper that he didn't need. "Thank you for that insight, Bree." With that, he hung up.

"So," Alec drawled. He had regained his composure, the air of arrogant apathy seeping into his tone. "The Cullens have a baby on the way. What wonderful news. Now they can complete their game of house."

Rage filled me on behalf of my family. How dare he insult my family like this? I lunged at him, tackling him to the ground. I proceeded to pummel him, punching his body and raining blows along his form. To his credit, he remained stoic.

"Don't forget what I can do, Bree," He chided, and I leapt off him in a hypothetical heartbeat. As much as I hated him insulting my family, I hated feeling like a weakling more. There were still bits of selfishness in me.

"Don't insult them like this," I snarled at him.

"I got the hint, thanks," he said dryly. "And I was merely commenting on your coven's penchant for playing human."

"Perhaps you could remove the subtlety," I said, scowling. "You're not very good at it."

"Or perhaps I thought you could see through it. Though it seems I may be wrong." He smirked.

"Don't insult my intelligence, you won't come out on top," I said in a superior tone. "And you know what people say about when someone makes assumptions. You don't know much about me."

"I know enough. You're a Cullen, used to be part of an army created to destroy them, and was spared by my sister. You had some sort of epiphany that you wanted to revert from your formal lifestyle to fit in with your newfound coven. You ran to Seattle when Bella and Edward had their wedding, probably so you wouldn't drink from their human guests, and you killed your father. Now you're here, with my pleasurable company." He grinned smarmily as he rattled this off quickly.

"Okay," I admitted, "excluding that last part, you know the basics. But that's really not enough."

"To the contrary. I can assure you that at least that's more than what you know about me," He verbally parried.

"You work for the Volturi, a bloody, nasty, power-hungry society. You're the brother of Jane, an equally bloody, nasty, and power-hungry girl. You're a bloodthirsty murderer who kills and drinks from humans just because he can. That's all I need to know."

For the first time, Alec let his guard down with an exasperated sigh. "The Cullens have really got to you, haven't they?" He said, making a show of rubbing his temples.

"Yes," I replied, both stiffly and proudly, "they have."

"Ugh." He made a noise of disgust. "To be honest, the only decent Cullens are Carlisle and his mate."

"What's wrong with the rest of them?" I said defensively.

"Edward is a suicidal masochistic idiot," he said bluntly, "Alice is an overly preppy control freak, Rosalie is, simply put, vain, Emmett has a vulgar sense of humor and virtually displays no signs of intelligence, and Bella is a pathetically dependent girl. Would you like me to list some others?"

"I'm good, thanks. But-" I cut him off as I knew he was about to speak, "I have some criticisms of my own. Aro is a psychopath that acts like an old grandma; Caius is a sadist who taught your sister everything she knows, Marcus is a guy stuck in a state of ennui for the rest of eternity, your sister enjoys giving people pain, and the rest of the so-called guard are sycophantic and can't think for themselves."

"You do realize you're insulting someone who is more than capable of killing you, right?"

"Yet you haven't done so."

"Good point."

"Why haven't you, anyway?" I was genuinely curious. He had had plenty of opportunities. Why hadn't he just done the deed? It would have saved me from this conversation.

"Technically, you have not broken any laws," he said, sounding like a lawyer. "You killed all witnesses and cleaned up after yourself. I won't kill someone for a crime they did not commit."

"You are remarkably agreeable for a bloodthirsty Volturi member."

He looked at me curiously. "Is that the propaganda they're feeding you now?"

"You drink the blood of humans," I pointed out.

"I honestly don't see why you Cullens are so opposed to that," He said in frustration. "We are natural predators, therefore, we have prey. Is that too difficult a concept to grasp?"

"It's inhumane and disgusting. We were once humans too, remember?"

"You forget about what it's like to be human after a millennium," He answered absently. "You're young, but eventually you'll get used to it."

Noticing my look, he changed the subject abruptly. "You know what? Let's ignore the subject of covens and diets for now. That would end up with some being turned into a pile of ashes, and I'm sure that would not be the ideal situation. How about we get to know each other? One doesn't get to know a victim when they're stunned senseless."

"I agree with the part about us not dying being good, but really? You want me to talk to you about myself instead of serious moral issues that are central to the life of a vampire?"

"It's called practiced ignorance. Politicians have been using it for years." The response came quickly, sharp as a whip.

I rolled my eyes. "Fine." If I was going to do this, I might as well enjoy it. "Exactly how old are you?"

**I apologize for the error in the previous chapter. When reading Bree's profile on the wiki for some extra research, I saw that Bree's father lived in Idaho, not Seattle. Also, he was (and should be) in jail by that time. After all, homicide is a grave crime. However, I felt Bree killing her father was a plot point for some character development.**

**It was quite exhausting for me to even think up even the worst innuendos. Let me make this very clear: I personally prefer to keep my stories clean, so there will be minimal cursing or innuendos, like in this chapter. This may be disappointing to some of you, who are used to that kind of thing, but this is my writing style. I hope you, my readers, won't feel too bad about that.**

**What was your favorite line? What was your favorite character? How do you like my portrayal of the characters so far? Give me a review for feedback!**

**-PhoenixCycle**


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